I’ve been working on my left arm’s tattoo sleeve for a couple years now. It doesn’t really have a theme, but it has meaning. On the back of my forearm is a sprig of wheat.
Vincent van Gogh wrote a letter to his dear brother Theo in January of 1885. In this letter, he wrote (in my opinion) one of the most moving sentiments of all time. In explaining his worth, he wrote, “… if I’m no good now, I won’t be any good later either — but if later, then now too. For wheat is wheat, even if it looks like grass at first to townsfolk — and the other way round too.”
I feel this in my bones. As a writer, it’s been a long challenging road. Always learning, always improving, never certain if there’s any actual talent within. Van Gogh reminds us that it doesn’t matter now. The future is uncertain. We are all always still growing. If my writing can’t cut it now, perhaps it never will. But if my writing shows promise in the future, then everything I am doing now is essential to getting there.
So keep writing. Keep creating. You never know what’s waiting for you in the future.
(This is an old photo. The sleeve is much fuller now.)
Joelle Jacoski 